Chapter 4
The dinner had been good; there was something more satisfying about a home cooked meal. In Chloe's busy schedule she didn't have time for such luxuries, she barely had time to eat some days. Clark had insisted on helping his mother clear the dishes while Jonathan went to the barn to close up for the night. Chloe sat and watched as Clark washed, dried, and put away the dishes at super speed, his mother smirking at the frivolous use of his powers.
"So this is how you managed to do your chores and managed to still have a social life." Clark chuckled lightly then continued to put away his last dish; crossing the threshold to the dining room he took a seat across from Chloe. "I'm still hurt Clark," she said quietly. "But it all makes sense now, all the feats you did in high school, the fact that you were at ninety percent of the crime scenes in Smallville history."
She sighed dejectedly; placing her elbows on the table she began to rub her temples furiously. Clark sighed heavily, the table shifting under his movement. "I wanted to tell you in high school."
"But why didn't you," she said quietly. Her words were thick with hurt and scorn, her eyes red with tears that were barely held back. Clark swallowed heavily, his attention diverted footsteps that emanated from his living room. Chloe's gazed fixed from Clark to Lana as she walked into the dining room slowly, her steps slow as if she was unsure to intrude upon the two.
"Am I interrupting something," she queried politely. Her liquid brown eyes shone warmly at the two in an attempt to diffuse the tense atmosphere. She still wore her coffee stained apron under her jacket, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail with a few strands covering her right eye.
"No, it's okay. Clark and I were just having a discussion about the past, we're done now." Her words were cold; she took pleasure in seeing Clark wince. Lana remained quiet for several long moments, her gaze shifting between the two of them. Finally Clark was the one to break the silence.
"Lana, thanks for coming over," he said as he stood up offering his chair to her. He waited for her to sit and make her self comfortable before continuing, "I was able to speak to Pete today. He's working at STAR Labs as the head geological consultant in reference to Kryptonite. It was Pete who first gave me the heads up on the story; from there I was able to trace it back to LexCorp to confirm it."
Chloe took in the information letting it process in her brain, "that's all well and good Clark, but what does this have to do with anything?"
"I'm getting to that," he sighed and removed his glasses placing them on the table. "It turns out that our friend Lex called Pete to his office for a one-on-one meeting, there Lex tried to bribe Pete for all his information concerning Kryptonite and Smallville. Pete flat out refused him then stormed out of the office; by the time he got back to his home everything on his research had been taken. All his samples of Kryptonite, both red and green, and his notes were likewise stolen from his office at STAR Labs."
Lana and Chloe both remained quiet as Clark continued, "That explains why Lex is so intent on completely digging up Smallville, but does he have the means to do so?"
"I doubt it," Chloe said. "This town knows that Luthor was the scourge of Smallville, I don't think they'll let it go without a fight."
"That's where things become worse, it turns out that a government Haz- Mat team came to Wayne Guyrich's farm just down the road. He said that they left with a full truck load of materials which kept in large lead boxes labeled, 'Radioactive.' If I miss my guess, I have to say that he and the government are working together on this one so it might be harder to stop him." He pulled a piece of paper from off the dining room table, looking over it carefully. "It says here that they conducted something similar a few weeks ago. at Schuster's Field."
"Oh my god," Lana gasped. Chloe turned to her, hopefully looking to gain some understanding. Lana and Clark exchanged a brief glance, Clark slowly nodded his head.
"What are you not telling me?" Chloe hated to be left out of the loop, all three of them were in this together it wasn't fair that they kept secrets from her. She glared at the two of them, annoyance in her features. "I think I have a right to know."
Lana conceded and nodded her head, her eyes never leaving the table top. She clasped her hand in front of her, "You're right, you do. It's just that right before graduation we wanted to get rid of the space ship that brought Clark to Earth. We thought if there was no evidence then no one could connect Clark to being an alien if anyone ever stumbled on his secret. We tried everything and nothing seemed to work on it. Finally we just decided to bury it, the three of us, me, Clark, and Pete."
"So you're telling me that both you and Pete knew about Clark and didn't bother to tell me? I thought we had put keeping secrets in the past, but I see I was wrong." She scoffed and folded her arms, Chloe felt betrayed. Her own friends didn't think enough of her to trust her with their own secrets. 'But who could blame them,' she thought, 'I spent most of high school trying to find out what made Smallville so weird.' She sighed and softened her features, her mind focusing to that task at hand.
"Chloe," Clark said softly. "It's not that I didn't want to tell you, if anything it was the total opposite. I wasn't ready to tell anyone in high school, I didn't know anything about where I came from or what I was. I was scared and desperate looking for answers that were too hard to find, from her on out nothing is off limits. You're a part of this now, I trust you; please do the same for me."
There was a long silence between the three of them, each one unsure how to proceed. Finally it was Clark to break the silence, "Since were on the subject of being completely honest, I should tell you two something. I think I know why Lex was searching in Schuster's Field."
Lana and Chloe both gave Clark a quizzical look. "What were they looking for Clark?" Chloe asked her voice in total seriousness. She had decided to put her feelings and hurt aside for the moment, this issue was too big to let high school jealousies jade her judgment.
"When I came to Earth, my ship was an almost alive; it knew what it had to do in order to protect itself. There was a piece that came with it, an octagonal disk; I believe that disk was the heart of the ship. It was like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put into place. Before graduation I decided it was best to hide the key so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, at that time Lionel Luthor."
"So you buried the key in the last place that you thought that anyone would look in," Lana deduced. Clark reassured her with a single nod of his head. "Schuster's Field" A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to put up this chapter, I just got so busy. I'll admit it, this chapter has a bit of ennui but I promise the best is yet to come.
The dinner had been good; there was something more satisfying about a home cooked meal. In Chloe's busy schedule she didn't have time for such luxuries, she barely had time to eat some days. Clark had insisted on helping his mother clear the dishes while Jonathan went to the barn to close up for the night. Chloe sat and watched as Clark washed, dried, and put away the dishes at super speed, his mother smirking at the frivolous use of his powers.
"So this is how you managed to do your chores and managed to still have a social life." Clark chuckled lightly then continued to put away his last dish; crossing the threshold to the dining room he took a seat across from Chloe. "I'm still hurt Clark," she said quietly. "But it all makes sense now, all the feats you did in high school, the fact that you were at ninety percent of the crime scenes in Smallville history."
She sighed dejectedly; placing her elbows on the table she began to rub her temples furiously. Clark sighed heavily, the table shifting under his movement. "I wanted to tell you in high school."
"But why didn't you," she said quietly. Her words were thick with hurt and scorn, her eyes red with tears that were barely held back. Clark swallowed heavily, his attention diverted footsteps that emanated from his living room. Chloe's gazed fixed from Clark to Lana as she walked into the dining room slowly, her steps slow as if she was unsure to intrude upon the two.
"Am I interrupting something," she queried politely. Her liquid brown eyes shone warmly at the two in an attempt to diffuse the tense atmosphere. She still wore her coffee stained apron under her jacket, her hair pulled back into a loose ponytail with a few strands covering her right eye.
"No, it's okay. Clark and I were just having a discussion about the past, we're done now." Her words were cold; she took pleasure in seeing Clark wince. Lana remained quiet for several long moments, her gaze shifting between the two of them. Finally Clark was the one to break the silence.
"Lana, thanks for coming over," he said as he stood up offering his chair to her. He waited for her to sit and make her self comfortable before continuing, "I was able to speak to Pete today. He's working at STAR Labs as the head geological consultant in reference to Kryptonite. It was Pete who first gave me the heads up on the story; from there I was able to trace it back to LexCorp to confirm it."
Chloe took in the information letting it process in her brain, "that's all well and good Clark, but what does this have to do with anything?"
"I'm getting to that," he sighed and removed his glasses placing them on the table. "It turns out that our friend Lex called Pete to his office for a one-on-one meeting, there Lex tried to bribe Pete for all his information concerning Kryptonite and Smallville. Pete flat out refused him then stormed out of the office; by the time he got back to his home everything on his research had been taken. All his samples of Kryptonite, both red and green, and his notes were likewise stolen from his office at STAR Labs."
Lana and Chloe both remained quiet as Clark continued, "That explains why Lex is so intent on completely digging up Smallville, but does he have the means to do so?"
"I doubt it," Chloe said. "This town knows that Luthor was the scourge of Smallville, I don't think they'll let it go without a fight."
"That's where things become worse, it turns out that a government Haz- Mat team came to Wayne Guyrich's farm just down the road. He said that they left with a full truck load of materials which kept in large lead boxes labeled, 'Radioactive.' If I miss my guess, I have to say that he and the government are working together on this one so it might be harder to stop him." He pulled a piece of paper from off the dining room table, looking over it carefully. "It says here that they conducted something similar a few weeks ago. at Schuster's Field."
"Oh my god," Lana gasped. Chloe turned to her, hopefully looking to gain some understanding. Lana and Clark exchanged a brief glance, Clark slowly nodded his head.
"What are you not telling me?" Chloe hated to be left out of the loop, all three of them were in this together it wasn't fair that they kept secrets from her. She glared at the two of them, annoyance in her features. "I think I have a right to know."
Lana conceded and nodded her head, her eyes never leaving the table top. She clasped her hand in front of her, "You're right, you do. It's just that right before graduation we wanted to get rid of the space ship that brought Clark to Earth. We thought if there was no evidence then no one could connect Clark to being an alien if anyone ever stumbled on his secret. We tried everything and nothing seemed to work on it. Finally we just decided to bury it, the three of us, me, Clark, and Pete."
"So you're telling me that both you and Pete knew about Clark and didn't bother to tell me? I thought we had put keeping secrets in the past, but I see I was wrong." She scoffed and folded her arms, Chloe felt betrayed. Her own friends didn't think enough of her to trust her with their own secrets. 'But who could blame them,' she thought, 'I spent most of high school trying to find out what made Smallville so weird.' She sighed and softened her features, her mind focusing to that task at hand.
"Chloe," Clark said softly. "It's not that I didn't want to tell you, if anything it was the total opposite. I wasn't ready to tell anyone in high school, I didn't know anything about where I came from or what I was. I was scared and desperate looking for answers that were too hard to find, from her on out nothing is off limits. You're a part of this now, I trust you; please do the same for me."
There was a long silence between the three of them, each one unsure how to proceed. Finally it was Clark to break the silence, "Since were on the subject of being completely honest, I should tell you two something. I think I know why Lex was searching in Schuster's Field."
Lana and Chloe both gave Clark a quizzical look. "What were they looking for Clark?" Chloe asked her voice in total seriousness. She had decided to put her feelings and hurt aside for the moment, this issue was too big to let high school jealousies jade her judgment.
"When I came to Earth, my ship was an almost alive; it knew what it had to do in order to protect itself. There was a piece that came with it, an octagonal disk; I believe that disk was the heart of the ship. It was like the last piece of a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put into place. Before graduation I decided it was best to hide the key so it wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, at that time Lionel Luthor."
"So you buried the key in the last place that you thought that anyone would look in," Lana deduced. Clark reassured her with a single nod of his head. "Schuster's Field" A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to put up this chapter, I just got so busy. I'll admit it, this chapter has a bit of ennui but I promise the best is yet to come.